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May 11, 2006

Stop the Jabiluka Uranium Mine

The White Cockatoo Performing Group: The David Blanasi Tribute Album 1998-2001
Artist/Collector:
David Blanasi
Label Information:
Big Bang Records
Media Type:
CD
Year:
2002
Availability:

U.S. and Canadian customers may purchase this album via PayPal by clicking on the button to the right.

Or, you may send a check or money order for $18.00 to:
John Burrows
P.O. Box 2574
Olympia, WA
98507-2574

Foreign customers should contact the nice folks at Skinnyfish Music

Notes:

This unique performing company comes from Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. The artists are a group of senior Aboriginal men from the Mialili, Rembarrnga, Guningu and Burrara language groups, who share the same social and family affiliations. Their country is the traditional birthplace and home of the Australian Aboriginal musical instrument, the Didjeridu.

The company founder, didjeridu master David Blanasi, traveled extensively throughout the world for over three decades and it was he who brought the didjeridu to national and international prominence for the first time. His extraordinary virtuosity made him the 'free jazz' master of the Western Arnhem Land 'Gunborg' tradition, where the continuous drone of the didjeridu is syncopated in time with the songmen.

In the years 1998-2001 Western Arnhem Land first lost songmaster Djoli Laiwanga (the Black Cockatoo) and then his didjeridu master David Blanasi (the White Cockatoo). Their corroboree was passed on to the songmasters Jack Nawilill and David Yirindilli. Jack and David have inherited these songs in what is one of the world's oldest unbroken artistic traditions. Despite the prominence of the didjeridu, it is the songmen who own and create the songs and decide what kind of accompaniment the didjeridu player will provide.

Jack Nawilill and David Yirindilli have chosen Darryl Dikarrna Brown as their didjeridu accompanist and Darryl now proudly plays in the tradition of his late and great didjeridu master, David Blanasi, who is remembered every time the White Cockatoo Performing Group appear in Australia or around the world.

Track Number Track Title Track Time Notes
01
Argument Song 0:02:11 Songmen: Jack Nawilill and David Yirindilli, Didjeridu: David Blanasi. Girlfriend and boyfriend are arguing. The girl is following another man and out in the scrub the two of them are arguing loudly. Big story that one! (Adelaide Festival Centre Amphitheatre, Australia, February 2000)
02
Gordo: The Brolga Didjeridu Solo 0:00:58 Didjeridu: David Blanasi. These are happy birds all the time talking to each other. These solos and calls are not a tradition. David Blanasi created them as a way to make a bridge between his own and western culture. (Adelaide Festival Centre Amphitheatre, Australia, February 2000)
03
Didjeridu Solo by Darryl Dikarrna Brown 0:00:47 Didjeridu: Darryl Dikarrna Brown. (Adelaide Festival Centre Amphitheatre, February 2000)
04
Djang 0:02:41 Songmen: Jack Nawilill and David Yirindilli, Didjeridu: Darryl Dikarrna Brown. The girls go hunting for small black and yellow fresh water fish. There are kids everywhere. (Adelaide Festival Centre Amphitheatre, Australia, February 2000)
05
Bush Potato, The Short Yam 0:02:03 Songmen: Jack Nawilill and David Yirindilli, Didjeridu: David Blanasi. The yam is too hot to eat when it is taken straight from the fire. If you put it in some cold water then you can eat it without burning your mouth. (Adelaide Festival Centre Amphitheatre, Australia, February 2000)
06
Mimi Spirit 0:01:45 Songmen: Jack Nawilill and Tom Kelly, Didjeridu: David Blanasi. Wapukurra is an old man, the boss and father of the Mimi Spirits. This is a very old song. Wapukurra meets up with the Mimis. He has one bad leg and can't move around so he stays in the rock. Mimi spirits are long, frail, skinny earth spirits who live in rocks. (San Diego, CA, USA, August 1999)
07
Mimi Spirit, Wapukurra 0:02:00 Songman: David Yirindilli, Didjeridu: Darryl Dikarrna Brown. Featuring David Yirindilli's amazing singing voice and Darryl Dikarrna Brown's sublime didjeridu accompaniment. Compare this same Mimi spirit song to the last track. (Tampere, Finland, August 2001)
08
Bini Bini 0:01:51 Songman: David Yirindilli, Didjeridu: Darryl Dikarrna Brown. All the girls and old people traveled all the time. They carried all their swag. They can't find any water. They find one old one who says 'go straight this way and you will find water.' He is right and they find that water. (The 'buzz' that can be heard early in this track is the sound technician's mobile phone ringing.) (Tampere, Finland, August 2001)
09
Dingo Lonely for its Mate Didjeridu Solo 0:00:59 Didjeridu: David Blanasi. The wild dog howling. (Duke University, Durham, N.C., USA, November 1998)
10
Gordo: The Brolga Didjeridu Solo 0:00:50 Didjeridu: David Blanasi. The stately large wading birds that inhabit the wetlands. (Duke University, Durham, N.C., USA, November 1998)
11
Dry Land Devil Devil 0:02:37 Songmen: Jack Nawilill and David Yirindilli, Didjeridu: David Blanasi. You might be traveling in the night in dry country and you see a big light coming down from a star! This devil can come in the night and kill you! If you are a clever man (shaman) you can fight back. He comes from the dry country down like Alice Springs. He's got very big ears. (Arnhem Land, 1998)
12
Two days sleep 0:01:52 Songmen: Jack Nawilill and David Yirindilli, Didjeridu: David Blanasi. Two days of camping and waiting. He looks for people, he sees tracks and he follows them but can't find anybody and he says 'No one helps me!' (Arnhem Land, 1998)
13
Top of the Palm Tree 0:02:35 Songmen: Jack Nawilill and David Yirindilli, Didjeridu: David Blanasi. The palm tree is good tucker. Up the top of these small palms the flesh can be made into fine flour. This is then baked in the fire like damper (bread). (Arnhem Land, 1998)
14
Short Argument 0:01:43 Songmen: Jack Nawilill and David Yirindilli, Didjeridu: David Blanasi. A short argument between two brothers. You sing this song! No you! No, you sing it! No you! Etc. (Arnhem Land, 1998)
15
New Rain, New Water Coming 0:03:03 Songmen: Jack Nawilill and David Yirindilli, Didjeridu: David Blanasi. Here the water running in a river is very strong. The river has risen with this new water and one fellow says it is too strong to attempt to swim across. We must wait! (Arnhem Land, 1998)
16
Foot Track 0:02:41 Songmen: Jack Nawilill and David Yirindilli, Didjeridu: David Blanasi. Here we are looking at footprints. Now we will try and follow them and see if we can find someone. Might be someone who has run away! (Arnhem Land, 1998)
17
Muk Muk: The Boobook Night Owl 0:01:30 Songmen: Jack Nawilill and David Yirindilli, Didjeridu: David Blanasi. In a graveyard, Djoli Laiwanga was taught many songs by a Boobook owl. Every night he visited the grave of an old woman, an owl perched in a tree above, taught him songs. It was the spirit of the dead woman speaking through the owl. (Arnhem Land, 1998)
18
Mammorye: The Green Plum 0:03:17 Songmen: Jack Nawilill and David Yirindilli, Didjeridu: David Blanasi. This song was composed by Djoli Laiwanga. Here two fellows are walking and old Djoli says, 'come here look, Mammorye! Help yourself, we can have a good feed.' Sometimes the plum is crushed with a stone. (Arnhem Land, 1998)
19
New Rain 0:03:09 Songmen: Jack Nawilill and David Yirindilli, Didjeridu: David Blanasi. In the morning they come looking for water and they find a round Billabong (water hole) and they find a lot of fish. 'Come down here! We're going to get these fish, that new rain killed them. That new rain is poison for the fish. We'll camp here!' You get bush Bream, Barramundi, and even a water snake! (Arnhem Land, 1998)
20
Bo Bo: The Goodbye Song 0:01:14 Songmen: Jack Nawilill and Tom Kelly, Didjeridu: David Blanasi. Another very old song. Goodbye! We may never meet again! (San Diego, CA, USA, August 1999)

Copyright 2002-2006 J.H. Burrows and Peter Lister